Health · Mental Health · 5 hrs ago
After a heart attack and amputations, a woman found out who her friends were
In 2018, the writer had a life-threatening heart attack and lost both legs in bilateral amputations.
During a long hospital stay, she saw which friends kept visiting and supporting her.
Two friends, Tijuana and Kimberly, showed up consistently during her recovery.
Within a year, her circle shrank from dozens of people to 12, as many stopped calling or inviting her places.
She believes her disability made some friends uncomfortable, though she says she is no longer angry about their absence.
The experience changed how she understood friendship: for her, reliable support mattered more than past closeness.
Nearly a decade later, she says she does not miss her old circle.
The author says she lost most of her friends after a 2018 heart attack and two lower-limb amputations.
During a hospital stay, two friends, Tijuana and Kimberly, consistently supported her.
Within a year, her friend group had shrunk from dozens of people to 12.
She says many former friends stopped calling or inviting her because her disability made them uncomfortable.
She writes that she no longer misses her old circle.
- Who
- The author, whose name is not stated, and her friends.
- What
- After a heart attack and two lower-limb amputations, the author says most of her friends drifted away while some remained supportive.
- When
- The heart attack happened in 2018. Her friend group had shrunk within a year.
- Where
- The article describes events in a hospital and after the author returned home. A location is not stated.
- Why
- The author says many people were uncomfortable with her disability and did not know how to deal with it.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
The author had a widow-maker heart attack followed by two bilateral lower-limb amputations.
The author says she began to see who remained a friend.
Her friend group had shrunk from dozens of people to 12.
- Heart attack
- Widow-maker heart attack in 2018
- Amputations
- Two bilateral lower-limb amputations
- Friend group before
- Dozens of people she called friends
- Friend group within a year
- 12 people
- Supportive friends
- Tijuana and Kimberly
What people are saying
I was 30 days into a hospital stay when I learned the difference between a friend and someone who used to be one.
Within a year, my friend group went from dozens of people I called "friends" to 12.
My disability made them uncomfortable.
I'm not angry about it anymore.